GOTTA RUN!

For too long, running has seemed like an all-or-nothing sport meant only for those built like a racehorse. But as Christi Nortier discovers with the right training method (and mindset), you can run the race at your own pace and win.

- By Christi Nortier

Whenever I finished running a race and came close to last, my mom would always say that I wasn't losing - I was just second, but from the back of the race. The weak and well-meaning joke always put a smile on my face but after an entire school career of coming "second from the back", I was quite sure my body just wasn't built for running. But even then, that didn't mean I accepted it.

I just pushed harder. I spent many teenage afternoons shuffling around the 2.5km park perimeter, huffing and puffing and possibly pulling a muscle - going as fast for as long as I could. It was draining, embarrassing and exhausting, but I thought that this was running. You put your head down and suffer through it. No one told me otherwise.

Of course, it didn't last long. The cool serenity and brash bubbles of swimming is what I preferred and seemed built for. Even after finishing school, I found public pools to keep it up. I suffered cold Cape mornings, always with darkness and icy sheets of rain, to get to the warm water. I drove swiftly, windows down with music going, on balmy mornings when the sun joined me at 6:30am. I'd pull off my cap at the end of a session and do a somersault, just for the heck of it. After that, I'd float on my back for a while.